'SoHo Karen' could avoid time behind bars under plea deal
Miya Ponsetto of Piru, California. (Ventura County, Calif., Sheriff's Office)
NEW YORK - Miya Ponsetto, the so-called SoHo Karen, could avoid prison or jail time for falsely accusing a Black teenager of stealing her phone at a New York City hotel.
The Manhattan District Attorney's Office is offering Ponsetto a deal in which she would plead guilty to a felony — unlawful imprisonment in the second degree as a hate crime — and serve two years of probation in her home state of California.
During that time, Ponsetto would be required to continue counseling, follow probation rules, and lead a "law abiding life," the DA's office said. If she successfully completes the two years of probation, she'd be allowed to withdraw her felony plea and then plead to a misdemeanor with time served, officials said.
Ponsetto was in the lobby of the Arlo Hotel in SoHo in December 2020 when she got into a confrontation with Keyon Harrold Jr., 14, and accused him of stealing her phone. Video recorded and posted online by Harrold's father shows a very agitated Ponsetto demanding the teen give her his phone.
The NYPD later released a security camera video showing Ponsetto frantically grabbing at Harrold as he tried to get away from her through the front door.
But her phone was found soon afterward in an Uber.
Police initially arrested Ponsetto in January 2021. Then in June 2021, the NYPD charged her with a hate crime.
Ponsetto is due in court on April 11, which is when she could accept the terms of the DA's plea deal.
With The Associated Press.
RELATED: Woman faces hate crime charge for Manhattan hotel confrontation [June 30, 2021]